March 27, 2014

Athens, 26 March 2013. 35 organizations constituting the
Racist Violence Recording Network are expressing their unequivocal
opposition to the promoted amendment to Article 19 of the Immigration
Code, which, if adopted, shall be a shield of protection for all
perjuring government officials who are involved in incidents of racist
violence and shall virtually set aside any possibility of protection for
the victims.

The Network has repeatedly stressed that racist violence cannot be
dealt with effectively without guarantees for the possibility of an
allegation. According to data gathered by the Network, persons lacking
legal documents constitute the majority of victims of racist attacks.
Even in these rare cases where they have the courage to report the
incidents, they are automatically detained until an expulsion decision
is issued. It seems, however, that this method of dissuading the victims
was not enough.

Moving on to the next level, the promoted amendment leads to further
intimidation of the victims: it reverses the burden of proof,
threatening with immediate court under the flagrant crime procedure and
expulsion and essentially criminalizing the recourse to legal
protection, thus converting the injured victim’s body to a
quasi-presumption of guilt. The victims of racist violence are now
accountable for any lack of evidence, despite the fact that this lack is
most often a result of the delay or even of the reluctance of the
prosecuting authorities to adequately investigate the alleged incidents
against them.

It is worth noting that the data collected by the Racist Violence
Recording Network illustrate a significant increase in incidents where
police violence intersects with racist violence. At a time when one
would expect the establishment of an effective mechanism to investigate
allegations regarding police violence and arbitrary behavior (in
accordance, moreover, with the recommendations of international
organizations, the Ombudsman and the National Commission for Human
Rights), the promoted amendment sends out the message that impunity
shall be perpetuated.

The Racist Violence Recording Network and its member organizations
call for the immediate reinstatement of Article 19 of the Immigration
Code exactly the way it was before the introduction of the unacceptable
amendment. Otherwise, our country will officially declare that any
perjuring government officials may feel safe to act arbitrarily, while
strengthening the impunity of all sorts of organized groups of racist
violence.